Strength
by Iwillbelieveit
Summary: When she spoke, it wasn't her voice. It was deep and dark and cruel. Zoe was gone. It was only a monster with her face now. A story based on the idea of what might have happened if Dan and Aneisha and Tom had been too late to get to Zoe in Final Endgame and the aftermath of that. Rated T. Now Completed!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is my first story for MI High and I hope you guys like this story as much as I've liked writing it. I watched season six of MI High and fell in love with the Zan pairing. As soon as I finished watching Final Endgame, I got this idea in my head and it would not _go away_. I was actually really surprised that no one had done this yet. Please Read and Review because I'd love to know what you guys think of this story. **

I launched myself off the raised passageway, in front of Zoe. There was some kind of light around her, pulsing in time with her heavy breathing.

"I knew you'd come back." She said, her voice soft.

"This could be dangerous." Aneisha said. "We don't know how it's wired together."

I turned, tearing my eyes away from Zoe, to Aneisha and the Mastermind. I looked over the various cords connected to Mastermind and I heard Zoe whimper behind me.

"How does it feel to fail?" Mastermind asked.

"How does it feel to be a fish tank?" Aneisha shot back, her anger flaring.

"We need to stop the mind transfer. I'll try and override the reactor."

"You're too late!" Zoe yelled, but it wasn't her voice. It was deep and dark. It was Mastermind's.

I whirled around as the glowing around Zoe stopped and I realised we were. As she stepped down from the podium, I saw that instead of that catlike green, her eyes were an unnatural glowing orange.

When she spoke, it wasn't her voice. It was the voice that belonged to a monster.

"I am the Mastermind."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! :) And most chapters will be longer than the last one. The last one was supposed to be a sort of prologue. This story, just so you know, is told completely from Dan's perspective. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! :)**

All I could do was stare. I couldn't believe that Zoe was gone.

"Dan!" Aneisha yelled. "The whole place is coming down! Come on!"

She grabbed my arm and I stumbled after her. I heard Frank, Tom and Stella's footfalls behind me as we ran through a long, dimly lit hallway which ended with a wooden door. Aneisha slammed into it, using all her weight and momentum to shove it open. Once it opened, we all stumbled out, blinking against the sharp sunlight. I collapsed on a patch of grass, immediately despising the sunlight. Zoe was gone. It should have been raining.

I stared at the burning remains of Sternum, looking for a glimpse of Zoe's familiar auburn hair.

"Zoe?" I yelled, jumping to my feet. I took a step forward and I felt someone grab onto my arm. I attempted to throw them off, but they dug their nails into my arm and I cried out in pain.

"Dan!" Frank yelled. He stood in front of me, blocking my view to the burning building.

"Zoe . . ." I whimpered.

"She's gone, Dan." Stella said.

"No!" I yelled. "She's not! I know she's not!"

"Dan." Frank said softly.

I slackened as the realisation what had happened hit me like a tidal wave. Zoe was gone.

Aneisha, who had been hanging onto my arm, let go and sniffled. My legs gave way and I collapsed on the ground. I felt a wave of nausea, and I drew my legs up to my chest, hanging my head so my it rested between my knees.

"Zoe. . ." I moaned, gripping the hair at the back of my neck.

"Just breathe, Dan." Frank said.

That weekend, I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Zoe – no, Mastermind's – eyes, glowing that bright orange that sent shudders down my spine. Despite the fact that I had seen it with my own eyes, I refused to believe that she was gone. Zoe was too strong for that.

Sunday night was the worst. Every time I came remotely close to falling asleep, I would see her standing there, surrounded by light with her fear shining as clearly as eyes would now. Then I would be shocked awake, covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

Around five o'clock in the morning, I gave up on sleep. I sat up and reached for my phone as I heard something knock against my bedroom window. Silently, I slipped out of bed, tensed for a fight. My instincts told me it was simply a bird, but my training told me it wasn't anything that simple. My training told me someone was trying to open my bedroom window. I lunged forward, grabbing hold of the window sill as I glared outside. There was nothing on the tree next to my window, but I thought I saw a girl with bright auburn hair running across the street. I blinked, but she was gone.

Sighing, I moved away from the window, collapsing onto the bed. The adrenaline of a possible fight had done whatever I had needed to get me to sleep. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter! Thankyou to ainsley25, ILoveMiHighandSherlock, gladrags2012, llamasinflyingtractors, TheAlpaca'sSubmarineSandwich and XxsammxX for reviewing _Strength, _getting reviews really does mean a lot to me.**

"Dan, get up for school." Mum's voice drifted through my dream, where we saved Zoe instead of being too late.

I groaned, rolling over and pillowing my face on my arm. "Mum, I don't want to go to school."

"Daniel Morgan, get up right now before I get a bucket of cold water!"

"I'm up! I'm up!" I cried, sitting up and rubbing sleep from my eyes. As a child, she'd often threatened to dump a bucket of ice-cold water on me to get me up for school. Once, when I was about nine, I decided to test whether or not she would actually do it. As a result, I'd gotten exactly what she'd promised, which was a bucket of cold water. Since then, I've always gotten up for school to avoid repetition of that.

"Then hurry up." She said, walking out and slamming the door behind her. I sighed, pulling blonde hair out my eyes. As I got up, I caught a glimpse of one of the photos sitting on my desk. It was of Zoe and I when we were in Boldovia, at the reception. We were both smiling into the camera and I could see Tom and Aneisha making faces in the background. I smiled as I recalled how beautiful she had looked in that dress.

"I know you're still alive, Zo. I'll get you back." I whispered and moved to grab my school uniform.

"How're you holding up?" Aneisha asked me as I walked into school.

I shrugged. "I've been better."

Tom gave me a pointed look. "Dan. We're your best friends. I think we deserve more than that."

I sighed. "I barely got any sleep over the weekend because I couldn't get Zoe and those eyes out of my head. Are you happy now?"

"No. I don't think any of us are going to be happy for a while." Tom replied.

"She's not gone." I said. "She's still in there, screaming at Mastermind to let her out. I know she is."

Aneisha nodded. "We believe you, Dan. But how are we supposed to help Zoe? We don't even know where Mastermind is."

I looked at Tom. "If I could find her – him, whatever – could you somehow figure out how to – I don't know, pull Mastermind out of her without hurting Zoe?"

"I can try, but, how do you plan on finding her?"

Quickly, I told them about the girl I'd seen running away from my house in the early hours of the morning.

"Don't you think it would be possible that Zoe – somehow, against all odds – managed to gain some control over her body – even if it was only for a little while?" I asked.

Tom nodded thoughtful. "I suppose she could, if Zoe's strength of will was strong enough."

"So we're on the same page? If I find her, you'll try?"

"I'll try but I can't promise anything, Dan."

I sighed as I collapsed in my chair. To top everything else that I had going on, I had History first lesson with Mr McNab and Melissa. I sighed again as McNab walked in and pulled myself to my feet.

"Morning, class. You may sit."

I allowed my body to fall back into the chair as Mr McNab started explaining the assignment he was giving us, based on World War II. It had to be done in pairs and I tried not to groan, because I already knew who my partner would be.

True to my prediction, once Mr McNab stopped talking, Melissa walked up to my desk, a bright smile on her face. Just as the sunlight had yesterday, her smile felt like a slap in the face, as if the universe was saying, _Take that, Bitch. She's gone_.

"Dan -" Melissa started.

"Sure." I said, cutting her off. Melissa smiled even brighter and shoved her seat down next to mine, pulling out a sheet of paper. I tried to focus on the task, but again, my mind kept wandering back to Zoe. I glanced over at the window, my eyes widening as I saw the familiar auburn-haired girl looking through the window. Zoe. I could tell that it was Zoe because her eyes weren't a bright orange, instead a beautiful moss green.

"Zoe." I breathed. She gave me a pained look, as if she had been stabbed and was now dying slowly, before she disappeared.

"Dan?" Melissa asked.

I snapped out of my trance. "Right, World War II. Let's do this."


	4. Chapter 4

"I saw her." I said at lunch to Tom and Aneisha.

"Dan, are you completely sure?" Tom asked.

I stared at him. "Tom, do you really believe I would mistake Zoe?"

Tom shook his head. "No, you wouldn't."

"Look, twice in the past day. Obviously, Zoe's got some control over her body. You didn't see her. She was in pain. I could see it."

"Okay, so you saw her." Aneisha said. "What now?"

I glanced out at the road and the houses on the other side of it. "I find her."

"Zoe?" I asked as I walked through the school gates at the end of the day. I glanced around. I hadn't seen her since this morning, so I couldn't be sure whether or not she was still around. For all I knew, Mastermind could have taken over the control of her body and had taken her back to some KORPS base. Hell, for all I knew, she'd never taken back control of her body in the first place.

I crossed the road and looked up at the sky as it started raining. As water rained down, soaking my clothes, my hair, my skin and my bag, I walked down the street, scanning everything for any sign of Zoe.

As I passed an alleyway, I thought I saw auburn hair from my peripheral vision. I walked backwards, my head turned towards the alleyway. My eyes widened and I had to clench my jaw shut to stop it from dropping. I had been looking for her, but that didn't change the fact that I was shocked and amazed that I had actually found her. There, wearing wet jeans and a black tank top, was Zoe.

"Hi, Dan."

I moved forward, pushing her against the wall as my hand came to touch the side of her face. Zoe's hands moved up until they rested on my neck, one either side, rubbing the skin, covered in goose bumps. Under my hand, Zoe shivered. The tank top she was wearing was thin and soaked through and her hair was completely drenched and hanging limply on her shoulders.

"You're alive." I whispered. She looked up at me, her eyes glistening with either tears or water. The rain was pouring down so hard, I couldn't tell. They kept flickering from green to orange and back again. It must have been consuming a great deal of her strength to hold Mastermind back like she was.

"Dan, I need you to kill me."


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry this one took so long, I didn't have any chances to update it! I'm back at school now, so updates might be a bit slower. Anyway, enjoy! :)**

"What?"

"I. Need you. To kill me." Zoe said slowly. She pulled a knife out of her pocket and handed it to me. Numbly, I took it and stared at her.

"I would do it myself, but Mastermind prevents it." She said.

"Zoe, no. I can't kill you. I won't."

"Why the hell not?" She asked angrily.

"Because I love you." I said. "And I can't do it. Tom will figure out how to get him out of you –"

"And how many people is Mastermind going to hurt before that happens, Dan? We're M.I.9, this is what we do. Dan, I don't have much time. Kill me while you can."

"No." I said stubbornly. The idea of me killing her made me feel nauseated.

"Please, Dan." She begged.

"No. I love you and I can't kill you."

Zoe's hand slid across my cheek, her eyes rimmed by tears. "Dan, I love you too, but, please, just kill and know that you've sent Mastermind to the hole in hell that he came from."

"No. We're going to fix this, Zo."

Dropping the knife, I stepped forward until I had her pinned between my body and the wall. I punched her in the face, causing her to pass out. I tightened my grip on her as she fell and gently lowered her to the ground.

I picked the knife up off the ground and pulled my pencil out of my pocket, holding the device to my ear as I turned the weapon over in my hands.

"Frank?"

Faintly, I heard Frank's voice on the other end. "Dan? Is something wrong?"

"Kind of. Can I get you and the others to meet me at the base? I have something I need to talk to you guys about."

"We'll be there."

I shoved the pencil and the knife in my pocket and bent down to grab Zoe. She looked peaceful in her sleep, as if she wasn't waging a mental battle every waking moment.

When I walked in with Zoe, there was mixed reactions.

"Zoe!"

"You found her!"

"Are you insane?"

Ignoring Frank's reaction, I set Zoe down on the floor, against one of the wall supports. I found some handcuffs and cuffed her hands around the pole. As much as I hated to tie her up like that, I didn't have another choice. We had no way of knowing whether Mastermind would be controlling her body or not when she woke.

When I was done, I stood, met with Aneisha and Tom's ecstatic expressions and Frank's enraged one.

"Daniel Morgan, are you deranged?"

"Maybe." I replied. "Take my word for it. That," I pointed to Zoe, "isn't just Mastermind in there. Zoe's there too. She's worked out how to push Mastermind back and control her body, but she can't handle it much longer. It's got so bad that she asked me to kill her."

I pulled out the knife, watching as their eyes widened as the blade glinted in the light.

"It's not fair that she dies without us trying to get him out of her. So I knocked her out and brought her here."

Frank sighed. "Dan, do you realise what you've done? You brought a girl inhabiting Mastermind's consciousness into an M.I.9 BASE!" He yelled.

"We can't just give up on her! And what does it matter? If Mastermind has a direct route to Zoe's memories, he already knows where this base is!"

"You should have killed her while you had the chance." Frank said quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's Chapter 6! I hope you're liking this story so far, because this is my favourite story that I've written so far because it's different. Anyway, here's the next chapter and please review. I love hearing what you guys think! :)**

I exploded. "Could you have done it? If it were Stella? Could seriously look her in the eye, the person you love more than anything else and know you were about to cause their heart to stop beating? What about afterwards? Would you be able to handle it, knowing you'd killed her? I know I'd rather throw myself off a bridge than kill Zoe."

I stood, my chest heaving as though I'd run a kilometre and stared at Frank. His expression told me that we were on the same page for the first time since Friday.

"Frank." I puffed. "Zoe's in there and it's killing her, sharing a head with Mastermind. I've seen it. We have to help her."

Before Frank could answer, I heard Zoe stir to my right. I spun, kneeling down in front of her. Zoe turned her head to side and groaned, in her soft voice; "Go away."

"Zoe?" I asked hopefully.

"Damn." She groaned, her green eyes opening. "You didn't kill me."

Her eyes searched my face as I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I told you I couldn't."

"I hoped that you'd see Mastermind instead of me and kill me once you knocked me out." As she spoke, she tugged on the handcuffs.

"They're not coming loose anytime soon."

Zoe nodded. "I gathered that."

"Zo? Does Mastermind have access to your memories?" I asked.

Zoe nodded miserably. "Full access. He knows everything. He knows who I'm closest to and knows how he can hurt me through them. He –" She broke off, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she yelled, "Shut up!"

When she opened her eyes again, they were flickering again, the way they had back in the alley.

"He's going to hurt you." As she spoke, she stared up at me. "It's so crowded in here, Dan. He's always there, hearing every thought, waiting to find some way to remind me that he'll hurt you. All of you." Her eyes flickered sideways, where Frank, Aneisha and Tom were watching. She looked back at me, her eyes begging. "Please, Dan. Please, get him out. I can't handle it anymore."

I nodded and cupped her cheek, stained with tears. She glanced at my hand before looking back up at my face.

"Zoe, I promise you, I'm going to do everything I can to fix this." I said.

Zoe's expression changed to hope. "Everything?"

I nodded. "Everything, Zo. I promise."

The tears, which had building in her eyes throughout our whole conversation, finally spilled over and I couldn't take it anymore. Tightening my grip on her head, I kissed her hungrily, crushing her lips against my own. I brushed my fingers through her hair as she kissed me back. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my bottom lip and I tasted the cold, metallic taste of blood in my mouth. I pulled back from Zoe in time to see Mastermind's orange-coloured eyes fade and Zoe's green ones replacing them.

"Damn." Zoe said. "I thought I had that down."

"What happened?" I asked softly.

"I lost control for a second but it was all _he_ needed. Now can you see how hard it is for me to hold on? Dan, this time he bit you. What if next time – What if next time he stabs you? I can't lose control like that again. He can't . . . I won't let him."

"Shh." I whispered. "Get some sleep. You look like you need it."

Zoe nodded, settling against the support as she yawned. I kissed her forehead and stood up, listening to my knees crack in protest after being bent for so long as I straightened my legs.

"Dan?" Zoe asked, her voice thick with exhaustion.

"Yeah?" I said, turning around to face her.

"I love you."

I smiled sadly. "I love you too, Babe. Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Zoe nodded and closed her eyes. I watched her as her breathing slowly evened out until she was fast asleep. I turned back towards the others, who were staring at me with their jaws slack.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." Aneisha said as they all snapped their mouth shut at the same time with a loud _snap!_ I sat down in the chair beside Tom. "Okay, we need to find some way to get Mastermind out of Zoe and we need some way of knocking her out without punching her in the face."

"Why?" Aneisha asked.

"Because we need to be able to knock her out without injuring her." Frank said.

I nodded. "Do you see now? Did you see how scared she was when Mastermind took over?"

Frank nodded. "We've got to hurry with this."

"That's got to be tiring her out, pushing him back like that and he's got to be torturing her in her sleep." Aneisha said.

"Not to mention that if we don't hurry, she's going to go insane." I said. The way Tom and Aneisha stared at me, I knew that the idea of Zoe becoming mentally unstable through all of this hadn't even crossed their minds.

Tom jerked, spinning back around to face the computer and Aneisha spun to help him. I watched distantly, wondering what I could possibly do to help them.

"Why don't you go home, Dan?" Frank suggested. "You look like you could use some sleep."

I nodded reluctantly, my eyes travelling to Zoe.

"We'll call you if she needs you." Frank said, before I could ask. I nodded and walked out reluctantly, looking over at the sleeping Zoe as the elevator doors closed behind me.

I slept a lot better that night. It might have been because I was tired already, or because I finally knew for sure that Zoe was alive, or it may have half of each. Either way, I fell asleep almost instantly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry, I know this chapter is ridiculously long. But it was either ridiculously long or ridiculously short and if it was short it was a pretty pointless chapter. So here you go! I hope you enjoy it and please review! :) **

When I walked into school the next morning, I felt more awake than I had the day before. Silently, I snuck into the caretaker's closet and pulled the broom. My heart leapt into my throat as the elevator plummeted down, changing my school uniform to my spy gear. When the door opened, I smiled softly as I saw that Zoe was awake and she looked stronger and more alert than she had yesterday.

"How're you feeling?" I asked as I stepped towards her.

Zoe sighed. "Do want the truth or a lie?"

"Depends what the truth is." I replied, sitting down beside her.

"I feel like death itself." Zoe groaned. "This morning he won't shut up about how he's going to slaughter everyone I care about. And last night, he kept feeding me dreams of how he's going to kill you, slowly cutting you apart."

"Why didn't I fight back?" I asked softly.

"Because he tied you to a table. The only thing you could do was scream."

"Zoe." I whispered. She looked at me, her eyes filled with tears. "I know it wasn't real, but it felt like it was because I feel that he would do it."

"We're going to get him out of you." I said, sliding my hand across her jaw.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold on, Dan." Zoe whispered.

"Just try." I told her. Desperately, I wanted to kiss her, to have a lapse in my control as I had the night before. But all too well, I remembered what that had gotten me. Instead, I kissed her forehead, closing my eyes.

"I love you." I mumbled against her skin.

"I love you too." I heard Zoe whisper. "And I'll try, Dan. For you."

"All I ask." I said, pulling away and standing up.

"What am I going to do while you guys are out?" Zoe asked, looking over at Frank, Tom and Aneisha, all gathered by the screen.

"We could just use knockout pills while we're in class and all come work on this during lunch." I suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Tom said.

"So we're in agreement?" I asked.

Aneisha nodded and Frank threw me a small container. I caught it, the pills rattling against the plastic sides of the container.

"You okay?" I asked, looking down at Zoe. She nodded. "This is the safest way to keep him contained until we figure out how to get him out."

I nodded and took a pill out, passing it to Zoe. She took it and popped it in her mouth, swallowing it.

"Night, Zo." I said. Zoe gave me a wry smile before her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

"So how'd you go?" I asked Tom, stepping towards the group gathered by the screen.

"Not too good." Tom replied. He swiped his hand across the air in front of the screen, bringing up some blood test results. "Nothing shows up in her blood."

"Of course nothing shows in her blood! It's her brain, not a DNA alteration." I said.

"Dan, just relax." Aneisha said. I sighed as Tom swiped the blood test results.

"Come on, you two have been at this for two hours straight. You should go to class." Frank said.

"Yay." I said sarcastically, walking into the elevator with them.

At lunch, Zoe was already awake and sitting up. She looked up as we walked in and I sat down beside her, leaning my back against the wall support. Zoe wriggled a little and I glanced at her in concern. "Do you think you'd be okay if I let you loose for a little while?"

Zoe nodded. "But you have to lock me back up as soon as I say."

I nodded and quickly unlocked the handcuffs. Zoe rubbed her wrists as Tom yelled, "Oh my God, I'm an idiot!"

"That's not the word I'd use." Zoe said kindly.

"No, but I am!" Tom protested. "I did a blood test when it'sgot do with your _brain_, Zoe!"

"I told you that!" I said. Tom grimaced at me as he pulled out a device, with cords connected to little suction cups attached to it.

"What's that?" Zoe asked as Tom walked towards her, the small device in his hand.

"It just measures brain patterns. It won't hurt you, Zoe." Tom said. He bent down and stuck one suction cup to her temple and stuck the other to her other temple.

"You might feel a slight zap." Tom warned as he switched it on. Zoe gasped and grabbed my hand as it started recording her brain patterns. I rubbed her thumb gently with my finger and she immediately relaxed, gripping my fingers gently.

"See?" Tom said as it finished recording. "Nothing painful."

Zoe looked at me. "No, nothing painful. Never anything painful."

Tom rolled his eyes and stood up as I touched her face, ducking my head to kiss her, forgetting that if Mastermind took over, he would easily be able to attack me. Zoe's hands rested on my shoulders and just as I was about to kiss her, she turned her face so her cheek slid against mine. I didn't need to be told why she turned away.

"I can't handle this much longer." I whispered in her ear.

"You and me both." Zoe replied. Suddenly, she slid away from me, her eyes wide and frantic. I snatched the handcuffs of the floor and cuffed her wrists behind her back, not bothering with the ceiling support. I stood, watching as Zoe's eyes changed from green to orange and her whole face morphed into a horrible, cruel expression that would have looked wrong on Zoe's face, had she been controlling. But in that moment, it wasn't Zoe's face. It was Mastermind's.

"Daniel Morgan." He said, smirking up at me. "How does it feel to know that I inhabit the body of your beloved, scaring her with images and promises of your death?"

I gave him a cruel smirk of my own and I leaned down, one hand resting on the side of the support above Mastermind's head, so I was eye level with him. "How does it feel to know she's stronger than you?" I spoke slowly, deliberately, my voice practically dripping with hate and venom. "How does it feel to know we're going to pull you out of her and send you back to deep, dark hole in hell that you crawled out of, you son of a bitch."

I straightened up, taking satisfaction in the fact that I'd rendered him speechless. I walked over to Tom, Aneisha and Frank, who were looking at the results of the brain scan.

"Tom?" I asked.

"I've figured it out, but it's going to take a while."

"How long are we talking?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"A few days. Friday at the earliest." Tom replied. I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I turned back to look at Mastermind. Except, it wasn't Mastermind. It was Zoe again.

"Dan, you should write a book on how to scare the hell out of evil masterminds."

I smiled. "As tempting as that is, I don't think it would sell very well outside of M.I.9. How'd you know I scared him?"

"Dan, we share a mind. I feel what he feels, he feels what I feel."

I nodded. "Fair enough. Did you hear? We now have a date."

Zoe looked excited. "How much longer?"

"Friday." I told her, sitting down beside her. Zoe smiled, her eyes glittering with happiness.

"I could have my body back by Friday? Dan, that's incredible!"

She smiled, but I pulled my legs up, resting my arms on my knees.

"What's wrong?" Zoe asked.

I looked over at her, her eyes full of concern and I laughed. It wasn't a real, genuine laugh. I simply laughed because I could.

"What?" Zoe asked.

"You're the one that's only got your will power to hang onto your sanity and your mind and you're asking me if I'm okay." I told her.

"Yeah. Now, what's wrong, Dan?"

"It's just . . . I wish we didn't have to get your body back in the first place." I told her.

"Dan, that can't be helped. There's nothing that could have been done."

"But there was! There were a million things I could have done. I could have insisted that I be the one Steinberg was tied to. I could have been faster to get there. I could have –"

"Dan." Zoe said, cutting me off. "There is _nothing _you could have done. I could be dead right now. But I'm not and that's all because of you."

I stared at her because I'd never thought of it that way before.

"Dan, you've saved my life more times than you know." Zoe said. "It would probably take me an hour to list the amount of times you've saved my life."

"I do it because you don't deserve to die, Zo. You know, I looked up the meaning of your name. You know what it means?"

Zoe shook her head. "It's just a name to me."

"Zoe means life, Zo. You can't die when your name means life."

"It's just a name, Dan."

"Don't care." I muttered, kissing her forehead. "For me, you are life."


	8. Chapter 8

**Because you guys are so amazing, here's the next chapter! I'd just like to quickly thank**

**MihighFan13**

**ILoveMiHighandSherlcok**

**TheAlpaca'sSubmarineSandwich**

**ainsley25**

**Nora**

**Zoelook-a-like**

**gladrags2012**

**llamasinflyingtractors**

**XxsammxX**

**for all your support on this story. **

I yawned as I leaned on the table, fighting to keep myself awake and upright. Out the corner of my eye, I could see Zoe sleeping, her hands still chained behind her back.

"Dan, you should go home." Tom said. "You look really tired."

"Hmm?" I asked, looking up.

Tom sighed. "You. Should. Go. Home."

I shook my head. "I can't."

"If this was any other situation, I'd say you're whipped. Now, I say you're her anchor."

"Her what?" I asked.

"Her anchor." Tom repeated. "Dan, why do you think she hasn't gone completely insane yet?"

"Because she still has the will power not to." I replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Tom groaned. "No, Dan, it's you! Think about it. It was you she yelled for at Sternum, it was you she went to when she realised that she was a sharing a brain with one of the most evil men in history. It's you that she's scared Mastermind's going to hurt. The fact that you love her and that you two will probably be together –"

"We don't know that." I interrupted.

"Dan, don't be stupid. Everyone can see that as soon as Zoe is alone in her head again, you two are going be a modernised, way less tragic version of Romeo and Juliet. Anyway, the knowledge that you love her and will probably be together is what keeps her going when you're not around. I've seen it. When you're here, it's easier for her. I can see it, Aneisha can see it. Her eyes flicker less and she seems . . . happier, somehow. You're her strength, Dan."

With that, he turned back to making the device that would remove Mastermind from Zoe. I looked over at Zoe, who was still sleeping near the roof support as Tom's words rolled over in my mind.

"You're her strength, Dan."

"How's it going, Tom?" Zoe asked the next morning. After watching her for another half hour the night before, I'd finally left and gone home. I'd gotten home at 2 am, to my unamused mother sitting in lounge room, waiting for me.

"Where were you?" She'd said, brown hair falling into her brown eyes.

"Out." I'd replied, shrugging out of my jacket.

"Daniel." She'd said.

"Look. One of my friends is sick. She's got this . . . illness and she really needs her friends right now." It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't completely a lie either.

She'd sighed. "Dan, just next time, call or find some way to let me know that you're going to be out late, okay?"

"It's actually going amazingly well." Tom answered, sitting down at the table. "Pretty much halfway there."

Zoe smiled as I bent to unlock her handcuffs, my fingertips brushing against her skin. Zoe shivered as I felt the slight shock of static electricity that crackled between us as I straightened up and tucked the handcuffs into my pocket for easy access. I helped Zoe to her feet and she stumbled as her knees buckled, probably from suddenly carrying weight after several days of her sitting down. I wrapped my arm around her waist to stop her from falling over and she grasped my shoulder with one hand to help steady herself.

"You okay?" I asked. She nodded and I removed my hand from her waist, but stayed close to her side. She slowly pulled her hand away from my shoulder, holding her breath. When she was sure she wasn't going to fall, she smiled up at me faintly and released her breath. "I'm okay, Dan."

I relaxed as she walked towards the table, sitting down beside Aneisha.

"Just like old times." Zoe said. It was obviously supposed to be a joke, but there was no smile on her face or humour in her voice as she said it.

As a result, Aneisha looked at her with a sad expression as tears welled in her eyes.

"It'll be okay." Zoe promised, pulling Aneisha in for a hug. I heard Aneisha sob and I stared at the two girls, amazed. Zoe had every right to cry every waking moment because of her situation and yet she was the one comforting us.

"I'm sorry, Zoe." Aneisha mumbled against Zoe's shoulder. "If we had just –"

"Not this again. I just had this with Dan. Listen to me." Zoe said, pulling away. Aneisha wiped her face and Zoe turned to me, extending her hand to me. "Dan, you come here and listen to this too."

I stepped forward, my palm sliding across hers as I took her hand. With her other hand, Zoe took Aneisha's hand. "None of you are at fault. The only people at fault are Crime Minister, Steinberg, the murderous psychopath in my head and me."

"Zoe, it's not –" I started.

"But it is!" Zoe cried, standing up and letting go of both mine and Aneisha's hands. "This all happened because I was naïve and stupid and didn't listen. You warned me not to trust Steinberg and I did it anyway. I should have listened. I should have trusted your instincts, Dan." She said quietly.

"My instincts have been wrong before." I said quietly. "They were wrong about you."

"But you realised that once I gave you a reason to trust me! Steinberg never gave me any reason to trust him."

"Zo, if you're to blame, so am I." Tom interjected.

I nodded. "See? Stop blaming yourself."

"But Dan, it is my fault! I trusted him and now I'm stuck sharing a brain with a homicidal psychopath."

It occurred to me then that she kept referring to Mastermind as 'homicidal' and 'murderous'.

"Zoe, what happened between Friday and Monday?" I asked softly. Until now, we'd never asked her about it because it had never come up and it hadn't seemed that important.

Zoe sighed and sank back into her chair. She let her face fall into her hands and I sat down beside her and touched her arm gently. Around us, Aneisha was watching curiously and even Tom had stopped, watching curiously.

Zoe raised her head, tears sparkling in her eyes. She lowered her arms so they rested on the table top as she took a deep breath.

"At Sternum, I was . . . elsewhere. I don't know where I was. That's why Mastermind was so . . . evil."

I shuddered.

"Mastermind decided to celebrate by finding a young girl to murder. Very early on Saturday morning, he found a blonde girl, about fourteen years old. She was drugged and he figured that no one would miss her, would notice if she died. But I did. I knew her and it woke me up. I didn't have much control, but I had enough to make him drop the knife."

She looked at me as tears started falling down her cheeks and she rubbed them away quickly. The look in her eyes, I'll never forget. It was torment in the purest form and I knew, just from that look, how hard it was for her to tell me this.

"You said you knew her." I said softly. "Who was it?"

Zoe swallowed thickly and I could feel my own dread.

"Dan." She said, her voice shaking. "It was Becky. Your sister."

**Dun dun dun! I hope you're liking this story! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's Chapter 9, because you guys are just so amazing with all your reviews! :)**

_"Dan." She said, her voice shaking. "It was Becky. Your sister."_

I straightened up as I recalled Friday night. Becky had been out late again that night, but had stayed out later than usual. She had finally walked through the door at about five o'clock on Saturday morning. I'd stumbled downstairs, confused and disorientated as both my parents yelled at her. Her clothes had been dishevelled, she'd had a cut on her cheek and her hair had looked as if birds and rats had been living in it for the past six weeks. I'd taken one look at her face and known from her own dazed expression that she'd been taking drugs. Disgusted with her, I'd glared at Becky and then stumbled back up to my room to wallow in my own sorrows.

Later that day, she'd told me that she had a dream where a girl with auburn hair and flashing orange eyes had cornered her in an alley and pulled out a knife before throwing it away. At the time, I'd been both so distracted that I'd put it down to whatever drugs she'd taken.

I gasped as I realised where the cut on her cheek had come from. I looked at Zoe, her eyes full of tears.

"Becky ran off and Mastermind was so angry that he grabbed the knife and stabbed me in the arm, but he somehow managed to push himself away from the pain. I felt all of it and he felt none."

She rolled up her sleeve, showing me a small, faint scar on her arm, next to the V.9.5.Z.O.E.6. I stared at it, my eyebrows raised. She'd gotten that wound under a week ago. It shouldn't have been a scar yet. I looked at her face, that tormented look still in her green eyes.

"When we got back to KORPS, Crime Minister put this . . . stuff on it that made it heal almost immediately. Dan, I'm so sorry." She whimpered. I reached out and took her hand, kissing her knuckles softly.

"It's not your fault. You saved her life." I said, dropping her hand. I reached out and traced the side of her face. I rested my hand on her cheek and she shied into my hand, closing her eyes as her hand moved to rest on top of mine. I felt her smile and I stroked her cheek gently.

"How'd you know it was Beck? I mean, you've never met her." I said.

Zoe opened her eyes and looked at me. "I'd seen photos of her, once before. But even if I hadn't, I still could've known that she was your sister. She looks like you; you've got the same eyes, same hair and the same face." She said. "I think that's what made me wake up. It was the similarities between the both of you. I think, for a split second, I thought it was you."

She let both her hands fall onto the table top and she looked down at her hands. Her hair fell forward to cover her face as she mumbled, "Is she okay, Dan?"

"She's fine."

Zoe sighed in relief. I reached out and touched her hand. She glanced at me and I wrapped one arm around her shoulders. She put her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. Her breathing slowly evened out and her body slackened against mine. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my lap, her head resting in the crook of my neck. Zoe mumbled something in her sleep and shifted, her arm moving to rest on the side of my neck.

I heard Tom chuckle as he went back to the half-made device on the table in front him and I glimpsed Aneisha's smile as I pressed a kiss to Zoe's hair.

Aneisha sighed and I glanced at her. "What?"

"As cute as you two are, you should probably chain her back up. It's always been Zoe when she's woken up, but you never know."

I knew she was right, but I didn't want to let Zoe go. That was the last thing I wanted to do. But I didn't want to risk Mastermind being in control when Zoe woke up. In my mind, I heard Zoe say what Mastermind would do if when Zoe woke up, he was in control. I saw her eyes, that horrific orange glow and I shifted my grip on her, so one hand was under her knees and the other was supporting her back. I carried her back over to the wall support and placed her down on the ground, so she was in sitting position. I chained her hands behind her back and kissed her forehead gently. I stood up and then turned to Aneisha and Tom. "I'm going home for the night. Call me –"

"If Zoe needs you." Aneisha finished. "Yeah, we know. Relax, Dan. Go home."

I nodded and spared a glance at Zoe as I walked into the elevator.

"Becky, we need to talk." I said, knocking on her bedroom door once I'd gotten home.

"No!" Becky moaned. "Go away, Dan."

"Becks, c'mon. Open up." I said, softer this time.

I heard her groan and a few seconds later, her door opened. "What do you want, Daniel?"

"I need to talk to you about Friday." I said.

"No! There's nothing to talk about and you know it!" Becky yelled, turning on her heel and slamming the door in my face. Or, she tried to. I stuck my foot in the door and pushed it open as I followed her in.

"I'm not talking about the drugs, Becks." I said softly. "Although I cannot believe you did that. I'm talking about the girl."

Becky shook her head and sat on her bed, running one hand through her hair quickly. "It was a dream, Dan."

"But it wasn't, was it?" I asked. "It was too vivid for that."

"Doesn't matter. It was still a dream."

I leaned down so my head was level with hers, trying to ignore the healing cut on her cheek. "How many dreams cut you?"

Becky looked away. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

I sighed and sat down beside her. "The girl who did it – it's one of my best friends. She's kind of . . . got multiple personalities at the moment. She's . . . kind of beating herself up over it."

"Okay, so this 'multiple-personalities' girl tried to kill me. What does it matter?"

"I needed to double-check whether the story was true."

"Still doesn't tell me why it matters." Becky pressed.

"It's a long story." I replied. "And one that I can't actually tell you."

"What, like you couldn't tell me about M.I.9?" Becky asked, smiling. My head snapped to the side to look at her, my mouth falling open in surprise.

Becky laughed. "Close your mouth, Dan. I'm fourteen, not stupid. Did you miss this?"

Out of her pocket, she produced an old spy-pod. I stared at it, instantly recognising it from my collection of spy stuff I had stashed in a box under my bed. Becky passed it to me, a proud smile on her face.

"You're always sneaking in late and always very secretive about everything. At first I thought you had some girlfriend that had a million tattoos and piercings."

Immediately, I thought of Zoe and imagined her with tattoos and piercings. I shook my head at the idea, because the very thought of Zoe having a tattoo obsession was ridiculous.

"So one day I searched your room."

"You searched my room?" I cried.

Becky sighed. "So I searched your room and found that spy-thingy and this." She pulled out a photo frame from her bedside table and handed it to me. I stared down at the photo and saw that it was one that Zoe and I had taken about a month ago, when I got my new phone. Zoe had her tongue sticking out of her mouth and I had my eyes crossed. I smiled at the memory and Becky bumped her shoulder against mine.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?"

"Yeah." I replied. I was too tired to try and deny it to her. And what was the point?

"She'll be okay, Dan." Becky said.

I tore my gaze away from the picture of Zoe and looked at her. Becky gave me a weak smile and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I hugged her back tightly, imagining that she was a little girl again, with blonde hair that seemed too thick for head and still needed her big brothers to protect her from nightmares and lightening and monsters under her bed that seemed to disappear whenever anyone else looked.

"I'm sorry." Becky whispered softly.

"What for?" I asked, pulling away.

"For disappointing you." She mumbled, looking down

"Why would you be sorry for disappointing me?" I asked, confused. "I'm just your brother."

"Exactly." Becky said.

"I'm not following."

She sighed. "I never cared much about what Mum and Dad thought. I only ever really cared about what you thought. When we were younger, you always used to beat up anyone who bullied me. You told Dad to go easy on me when I started liking boys. So I just thought that I could repay you by being the perfect little sister."

"So why'd you take drugs?" I asked.

Becky shrugged. "You remember Jacob?"

I nodded, leaning against the wall. "Your boyfriend whose life-long dream was to have a trillion tats?"

Becky rolled her eyes. "You don't know that, Dan."

I smiled. "What about him?"

"He cheated on me and then dumped me."

"So you took drugs?"

"Hey! I'm fourteen! And I seem to have inherited your habit of acting and then thinking."

"I don't do that." I said.

"You do. The point is, I wasn't thinking straight. I won't do it again, Dan. I promise."

"Are you sure you're not –"

"Dan, I'm fine. I did them _once._ Go get some sleep. You look like you could use it. And I won't tell anyone your secret."

I nodded and kissed her forehead before standing up and walking to the door. I looked back at her.

"You'll always be my little sister, Becks. You know that right?"

Becky nodded and smiled. "I can't wait to meet your 'friend' for real."

I laughed. "Hopefully we'll be more than that by the time you meet her."

I heard Becky's laughter echoing in the hallway as I walked to my own bedroom, pushing the door open. I pulled my shirt off and let myself fall onto the bed, pulling the blankets over my body with one hand. I must've been more tired than I realised because within minutes, I'd fallen asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**And here's chapter 10! I've gotta say, you guys are absolutely incredible. Every time I log on, I've got new reviews waiting for me! :) **

I woke to something beeping next to my right ear. I groaned in annoyance, reaching out and sliding my hand across my bedside table. My fingers closed around my pencil and I held it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Dan, Zoe's gone." Frank said.

Suddenly awake, I sat up. "No, she's not dead."

"Well, we don't know."

"How can _you not know_?"

"She's. Not. Here." Frank said slowly.

"I'm on my way." I said. I quickly threw on jeans and a t-shirt. St. Heart's had a pupil free day, so I couldn't get a ride. I'd have to run. I pulled my bedroom window and climbed through it, onto the tree on the other side. I moved slowly across the thick branch until I reached the trunk of the tree. I swung off the branch of the tree, one hand gripping the branch I'd previously stood on and the other gripping a dent in the trunk. I let go and dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch. I took off running in the direction of St. Heart's, pulling out my phone and speed-dialing Becky.

"Dan? What do you want?" Becky asked, annoyance dripping in her voice.

"Becky, thank God you answered. I need you to cover for me. Tell Mum my friend got worse."

"Did she?" Becky asked.

"Something like that." I replied, turning a corner. "I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

I hung up and shoved the phone back into my pocket as I reached St. Heart's, skidding to a halt. The gates were closed and I yanked on them angrily. Naturally, they were locked. I looked up at the top of the gates. They weren't high and had lots of small gaps and places for me hold onto. I grabbed the highest rung that I could reach and hauled myself up.

I climbed over the gate and then sneaked into the school, into the caretaker's closet. Usually, I loved the feeling of the elevator going so fast that everything around you was a blur but in that moment, I was too wound up and worried about Zoe to enjoy it. As soon as the doors opened, I stormed out.

Frank, Stella, Aneisha and Tom were gathered around the table. In front of Tom sat a metal bracelet.

"What the hell happened?" I snarled.

"I came in this morning and she was gone." Tom replied.

"Check our security footage." I said. Already, my mind was whirling as it struggled to work out how to get Zoe back.

Tom grabbed his laptop and started typing. I walked around the table and peered over his shoulder as he brought up the security footage from last night. I saw myself walk out and Tom fast forwarded the footage until we saw Zoe wake up. Tom let footage play at normal speed and I watched as Zoe looked around. Suddenly her body went stiff, her back rigid as it held her up.

"Mastermind." I hissed through my teeth. I watched as Zoe's body slowly relaxed and her arms, chained behind her back started moving. I held my breath as slowly, she undid the handcuffs behind her back. Triumphantly, she held up the handcuffs and smirked into the camera.

"Pause it." I ordered. Tom obeyed and I squinted at the frozen frame. "Zoom in on her face."

I waited as Tom zoomed in, until Zoe's face filled the screen.

I pointed to her eyes, a brightly glowing orange. "That's not Zoe. Mastermind's in control. Zoe never did get any stronger. Mastermind was giving her a little more control each day, so he could grow strong enough to keep her contained while he escaped."

Now that I knew for sure who had been control, I was already working out how I would get Zoe back.

"Is there any way we could track Zoe without picking up her twins as well?" I asked.

Frank raked a hand through his hair. "Unless she's got her pencil or a tracker of some sort, no. And as soon as Mastermind took control, he would have destroyed any form of tracking he or Zoe knew about."

"That's it!" Tom cried and started tapping away on his laptop again.

"What's it?" Aneisha asked.

"On that first night, I slipped a tracker into Zoe's pocket. It was tiny, so she wouldn't have known about."

"So neither would Mastermind." I finished. I looked over Tom's shoulder as he brought up the tracker.

"There. It's an old, abandoned warehouse." Tom said.

"I know where that is!" Aneisha exclaimed. I turned to look at her. "You do?"

"Yeah. My dad used to work there, before it shut down."

"Mission on." I said, walking around the table.

"Wait, Dan." Frank said.

Annoyed, I turned back around to face the others.

"Here. You might want this." Frank said. He picked the metal bracelet off the table and threw it to me. I caught it and turned it over in my hands. It was a simple metal bangle, with a small sort of box on it. I raised an eyebrow. "As pretty as this is, how is this going to help me get Zoe back?"

"That is no ordinary piece of jewellery, Dan." Tom said. Quickly, he explained how the simple piece of metal in my hands was Zoe's ticket to having her own body again.

I nodded and tucked the bracelet safely into my pocket. "Let's do this."

"Both of you, be careful. This place will be . . ." Frank warned over mine and Aneisha's earpieces.

"Swarming with KORPS agents." Finished Aneisha. "Yeah, we know Frank."

"Be careful." Frank replied.

"Why do they always prefer dark places?" Aneisha grumbled.

"Maybe they like it because it's dark and dreary and depressing. Maybe that's what hell's like." I said.

Aneisha raised an eyebrow. "I thought hell was supposed to have lots of fire."

I shrugged. "Same difference."

I stopped as we reached a door and listened. Inside, I could hear laughter.

"Master, the boy's reaction is going to be –"

I felt fury boiling my blood as I stopped listening. Crime Minister and Mastermind were in there. I glanced at Aneisha and saw anger and determination on her face, mirroring my own emotions.

I shoved the door open angrily. "You're going to love my reaction when I send you both to burn in hell."

Crime Minister stood up, a malicious smile on her face. "Daniel Morgan. How sweet young love is."

"You know nothing about love." I snarled.

Crime Minister's expression changed from amusement to fury. "You know nothing, boy!"

"Don't need to, to know that you should be dead." Aneisha said.

Crime Minister flung herself towards me and I dodged. She stumbled into the wall and then whirled around to face me. She punched me in the face and I stumbled backwards a few paces, my hand flying to my face. My hand came away red with blood.

"You're going to regret coming here, boy." Crime Minister hissed, a malicious smile on her face. She launched forward, but I kicked her in the stomach, so she flew back into the wall behind her. I heard a thud and she slumped to the wall, unconscious. She must've hit her head on the wall.

I turned to Aneisha. "Watch the door and watch _her_."

Aneisha nodded and glared down at Crime Minister as she moved to stand by the door. I turned back around to face Zoe, her eyes orange.

"Zoe." I said, taking a step forward. "Remember who you are."

"No!" Mastermind screamed, launching forward. He tried to punch me, but I rolled forward, out of the way. I pushed myself up to my feet behind Zoe and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around to face me. She kicked me in the shin and I grunted, grabbing her other wrist and leaning forward so I was looking into those eyes that were so clearly Mastermind's.

"Zoe. _Remember who you are_."

She fought harder, but then she stopped, breathing heavily. Her eyes were green again but were flickering uncontrollably.

"Dan." She whimpered. Still holding her wrists, I pushed her against the wall. I reached into my pocket, digging around for the bracelet. It was gone.

"Neish!" I yelled, turning around. "The bracelet!"

Even as I said, I saw it sitting on the floor a few paces away. I grabbed it and then turned back to Zoe, trapping her between my body and the wall, holding the metal ring in front of her face.

"What's that?" Zoe asked. She was still breathing heavily and we were standing so close together that I could feel those movements against my chest.

"This is going to set you free." I said softly. "I just need you to do one thing for me."

Excitement flared quickly in Zoe's eyes, replaced almost immediately by determination. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to give Mastermind control."


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, remember what I said about a long chapters a few chapters ago? I take that back. _This _is a long chapter because it simply could not be split into two chapters. And it's also the last one. (Depressing, I know.) But I have good news! I've started working on the sequel for this, which will be titled _Life_. I'd like to thank anyone who reviewed, favourited, followed or read this story. All of you have been a massive support, but I'd like to especially thank Ainsley25 for your continuous support on this story. You are amazing. One last thing; has anyone else noticed that KORPS like to name everything after bones in the human body - Sternum, Clavical, Scapula?**

_"I need you to give Mastermind control."_

"Dan, no! He'll kill you!" Zoe cried.

Before she could protest further, I kissed her fiercely and closed my eyes, dropping my arm so my hand holding the bracelet was next to her's. Zoe gasped into the kiss and then she bit into my bottom lip. My eyes flew open, and I saw shining orange in front of my eyes. I pulled my mouth away as I pushed the bracelet onto Zoe's wrist, causing Mastermind to snarl. He _literally_ snarled at me as if he were a rabid dog.

Those eyes, those orange eyes, they shined even brighter than I had ever seen them glow, even more than they had on that first day. Then they changed, switching back and forth between green and orange. Zoe's knees buckled and she screamed, but the sound distorted itself. At first it sounded like Zoe's, but then, like her eyes, it kept switching between her own and Mastermind's. I wrapped my arms around her to keep her upright as she started trembling and then, slowly, that trembling escalated to violent shaking.

"Dan!" Aneisha yelled. I turned my head around to look at her. "Yeah?"

"They're coming!"

"Can you hold them off as long as you can?"

Aneisha nodded and I turned back to Zoe. Gently, I laid her on the ground and crouched by her side, every muscle in my body tensed for an attack. Beside me, Zoe whimpered and arched her back.

Zoe screamed my name, her fingers sliding across the cold, stone floor as she tried to grab onto something that wasn't there. I turned towards her, sliding my palm underneath her searching hand. Her fingers tightened around my hand and she gasped loudly. Suddenly, her whole body relaxed and her back thumped against the floor as every muscle and bone in her body relaxed.

I glanced at the bracelet on Zoe's wrist. The square was now glowing orange. Satisfied, I ripped the bracelet off her wrist, letting it fall through my fingers. It clattered to the floor noisily and I pressed two fingers to Zoe's wrist, watching her face intently. I couldn't see any movement coming from her at all and I couldn't feel a pulse. I slid forward so I was sitting on my legs.

"Zoe, c'mon. Don't do this to me. Not now." I muttered. I thought back to when I promised Zoe that I would do everything I could to take Mastermind out of her. I remembered the look of pure hope in her eyes.

"She's not . . ." Aneisha trailed off, her voice thick with tears.

"No, she's not." I replied. "Zoe, this isn't funny. Come on, wake up. We did it. He's gone."

No answer. I let go of Zoe's wrist as my hands started shaking. I could feel tears pricking at my eyes as I dared to consider that she might actually be dead. Angrily, I pushed the thought away.

"Zoe, you are not leaving me! Open your eyes! C'mon!" I yelled. My hands shook more violently and I balled them into fists in an effort to stop them.

I heard a crash and I spun around. I had expected to see half a dozen KORPS agents, but instead I saw Tom and Frank.

"Dan." Frank said quietly. I turned away before he could continue, back to Zoe.

"Come on, Zoe! You're stronger than this! Better, faster, stronger!"

I stared at her face and I felt my anger subside, only to be replaced by grief. Suddenly, every heart beat seemed to cause pain, as if my heart had thorns sticking out of it that stabbed into my muscles and lungs and arteries with every beat. I reached forward, twisting my body and pulling her head in my lap. I gave up trying to hold my tears back as I rested my forehead against Zoe's, squeezing my eyes shut.

"Come back to me. Please."

I placed my hand on her cheek as I started crying, my shoulders shaking violently. I felt fingers in my hair and I silently willed the fingers' owner to leave me alone.

"Always, Daniel."

I lifted my head up, staring at her face in disbelief. Hope surging through every part my being, I grabbed her wrist, pressing two fingers to the skin under her palm. I felt a faint drumming under the skin and I felt a massive grin spread across my face.

"She's alive!"

"Impossible." Tom said. As I watched, Zoe opened her eyes. They were that beautiful green again and I could see immediately from her expression that the bracelet had worked. She had her mind to herself.

She sat up, her hands resting on my neck. "Dan, you saved me."

"Zoe." I breathed. I put one hand on either side of her face and kissed her hungrily. Zoe kissed back with a similar intensity, her fingers tangling in the hair at the back of my neck. Her lips felt soft against mine and I drew her closer, wrapping my arms around her waist.

Zoe pulled away for air, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and resting her head on my shoulder. I closed my eyes and smiled as I let reality sink in. We'd actually done it. Mastermind was gone.

"Dan?" Zoe whispered.

"Yeah?" I asked softly.

"I love you."

I kissed her hair happily. "I love you too, Zo."

"Zoe!" Aneisha yelled. Zoe pulled away and stood up as Aneisha ran forward and hugged Zoe tightly. I heard Tom and Frank walk up and I spun around to face them. Tom bent down and picked up the bracelet off the floor. He looked at the now-orange square on the metal ring.

"Got him." Tom said triumphantly, shoving the bracelet into his pocket. I grinned at him as I pulled myself to my feet. "You're a genius, Tom."

Tom smiled. "I know, but it's still nice to hear it."

I shoved him playfully as the girls came towards us. Zoe smiled and started but then stopped, her body stiffening and the smile dropping from her mouth as she stared at something behind me.

"What's wrong?" Frank asked as I spun around. Immediately, I knew what was missing.

"Crime Minister's gone." I said.

"Okay, we've gotta get out of here." I said. I knew that if we took the same route out that we'd taken in, we'd encounter tons of KORPS agents. And I could see that all that was keeping Zoe awake at the moment was her happiness and soon even that wouldn't be enough to keep her awake.

"Okay, we need to get out of here, before she comes back." I said. I looked around quickly for some other form of escape.

"The window." Aneisha said, pointing. I moved towards the window and opened it, looking out. I found myself looking out at the road and I could see the car we'd come in, a large black van.

I looked back at the others. "We can get out through here."

I pulled myself up and through the window, landing on the grass on the other side of the wall. Zoe climbed through the window next, followed by Aneisha, Frank and then Tom.

I pulled the window shut once everyone was through and we all started walking back towards the car. Tom yanked the front passenger door open, sliding into the seat. Aneisha slid the back door open, climbing in. Zoe got in after her and slid in beside Zoe, pulling the door shut behind me. As Frank started the car, I wrapped my arms around Zoe's waist and she pushed herself closer to me, resting her head on my chest.

"You're okay, Zo. You're safe." I whispered.

Zoe smiled. "Thanks to you."

I shrugged but didn't say anything. Zoe slowly fell asleep, her head still resting on my chest. I watched her sleep as I thought about the day's events. It still seemed so impossible that Zoe was completely herself. When we had nearly reached her house, I shook Zoe's shoulder gently. "Zoe. Zoe, wake up."

"Mmm. . .Where is he?" Zoe mumbled as she woke.

"He's gone, Zoe."

Zoe nodded and looked up at me. "Can you stay with me tonight? Please?"

I nodded as Frank pulled the car up outside Zoe's house. I pulled the door open and helped Zoe out. I watched as Frank drove away.

"Zoe!" Someone yelled. Zoe turned as her foster parents ran out of the house. Her foster mum, Jane, had tears streaming down her cheeks as she hugged Zoe. Zoe hugged her back as her foster dad came up and hugged them both. I stood on the sidelines and watched as I pulled out my phone and dialled Becky.

_"Yeah?"_ She asked.

"I need you to cover for me for tonight." I told her.

_"Okay. How is she?"_

"She's better. Healed."

_"That's good. What do you want me to tell Mum and Dad?"_

"Tell them that my friend who's sick is better but she wants me to stay with her tonight."

_"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."_

I hung up as Zoe, Jane and Zoe's foster dad, Cam, broke their hug. Cam looked at me and I could have cried again as I saw the tears in his eyes. It didn't matter that Zoe wasn't related to them in any way. She was still treated as if she were their own daughter.

"Can Dan stay here tonight?" Zoe asked softly, looking up at Cam. Cam looked from Zoe to me and then back again and nodded.

Zoe smiled and kissed his cheek before she came over to me. I reached out and grabbed her hand. Zoe looked up at me and bit her lip, as if she wanted to tell me something but was scared of what my reaction might be.

"I need to talk to you." She said softly. She pulled me into the house and I followed her up to her room. She let go of my hand as I stepped through the door and sat down on her bed, staring down at her hands.

"What's up?" I asked softly, sitting beside her on the bed. Zoe looked at me. "Before we decide anything about. . .us, there's something you need to know."

"Okay."

Zoe took a deep breath. "Did you ever wonder why I was the one they put Mastermind into?"

I shook my head. Honestly, I hadn't had the time to consider why this had happened to her because I'd been preoccupied with trying to get Mastermind out of her.

"Before they shoved Mastermind into my head, Steinberg and Crime Minister explained what was going on. I never knew my parents because I don't have any parents. Steinberg created me with Mastermind's DNA for the task of transferring Mastermind's consciousness into my body." She said, tears welling in her eyes. She glanced at me and swallowed. "Steinberg said that Kloe was one of many failed attempts. Did Frank tell you how many that is? I know that he knows."

I studied her face, framed by red hair. "Zo, there's eighty."

"Oh, God." Zoe whimpered. She brought her knees up to her chest, resting her arms on them and letting her head fall forward, so that between her hair and her arms, her face was concealed.

"Zoe." I said. I pushed her hair back, letting my fingers dance across her cheek. Zoe lifted her head and looked at me. I pushed the sleeve of her jacket up, revealing the writing on her arm. I slid my fingers across her skin, over the mark. "_This_ means nothing. Zoe, you are nothing like Mastermind. If I could, I would swap places with you in a heartbeat."

Zoe turned towards me, tucking her legs under her body. "You don't hate me?"

I smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Why would I hate you? Zoe, I love you. All of you. It doesn't matter to me whether you were born or created or whatever. You never asked for this and you sure as hell don't deserve it."

Zoe smiled and reached out, wrapping her arms around my neck as she moved closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her softly.

"I love you." She whispered between kisses. I tangled my fingers in her hair, the soft strands sliding around my fingers. She drew away slowly, her hands sliding from my neck, across my shoulders and down my arms. As her fingers reached my palm, I curled my own fingers upwards, wrapping them around her hands.

"So what now?" Zoe asked softly.

"Whatever you want." I replied. "I'll love you no matter what you decide."

Zoe took a deep breath and looked up at me. "I want to be with you, Dan. I love you and I want the whole world to know it."

I smiled at her and kissed her, pulling her into my lap. Zoe sighed happily and I held her tighter as Zoe gripped my shoulders. When we pulled apart for air, Zoe rested her head on my shoulder and yawned against my neck.

"That bracelet must've drained your strength." I said.

"Mmm-hmm." Zoe mumbled.

"Come on." I said. I twisted my body and lay down so Zoe was laying half on top of me. I spread my arm out across the pillow, behind Zoe's head. Zoe mumbled something and turned over, resting her head and one hand on my arm.

Satisfied that she was safe and would remain so, I let myself drift off to sleep as the day's events caught up with me.

When I woke up, Zoe was still asleep, curled into my side. My arm felt numb, so she must've used it as a pillow all night. I glanced at the clock on Zoe's bedside table and saw that it was only six in the morning.

"Dan?"

Zoe rolled off my arm and I smiled down at her. "_This_ I could get used to."

Zoe smiled and sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. She pulled it so it gathered on her right shoulder.

"The pupil free day was yesterday, right?" Zoe asked.

"You're not seriously going to school?" I asked as I sat up, my eyes widening in disbelief.

Zoe nodded. "I need some form of normalcy."

I nodded. "I've gotta get back home. There's only so long that Becky can cover for me."

I leaned forward and kissed her quickly. "I'll see you at school. I love you."

"I love you too, Dan." Zoe whispered. I smiled and kissed her forehead before I walked to the door. I paused in the doorway, glancing back at her uncertainly.

Then I slipped out the door, leaving her to get ready for school.

"DOES YOUR FAMILY MATTER TO YOU AT ALL?" My father yelled as I walked through the front door. His green eyes blazed with fury as he stood in front of me. Mum stood behind him with her arms crossed. Becky came down the stairs and paused on the bottom step, following their lines of vision to me. She gave me an apologetic look as both my parents started yelling at me. I just stood there like they expected; my head down, as if I was ashamed of my actions.

But I wasn't ashamed and finally, I snapped. "What about being there for the people you care about? Do you seriously want me to choose my perfectly healthy family over my friend who was as possibly far from healthy as you could get? Do you seriously want that?"

I smirked in triumph as both my parents shut up and the anger drained from their faces.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for school."

I started up the steps, pushing past Becky. In my room, I changed into my school uniform. I was grabbing my tie when Becky pushed the door open.

"They deserved that, you know."

"Well, maybe they did but I didn't yell at them for the reason you think. I was in a good mood until about a minute ago."

I turned around to grab my blazer to see Becky grinning at me.

"What?"

"You got together with her." Becky said. It wasn't a question.

I smiled and shrugged into my school blazer. That was all the answer she needed.

"Aww. Danny's got girlfriend!"

I shook my head and shoved her shoulder. "Go on, get outta here before I use my mad fighting skills on you."

Laughing, Becky held up her hands in surrender as she walked backwards out the door.

"Hey. Zoe here yet?" I asked Aneisha and Tom as I walked into school.

"She's actually coming?" Aneisha asked, her eyebrows rising.

"She said she needed normalcy. I don't blame her, after what she's been through." I said.

"Fair enough." Tom said.

I heard someone call my name and I spun in time to see Zoe run towards me. I swung her around once as she reached me before setting her down on her feet.

"Hey Beautiful." I whispered in her ear. Zoe blushed and I took her hand, squeezing her slender fingers gently.

"Told you." Tom said. I rolled my eyes at him and Zoe looked up at me, confused.

"I'll tell you later." I mumbled. Zoe nodded and I noticed something flashing in the corner of my eye.

I grinned before the four of us moved toward the school building.

As we walked in, Zoe glared at something off to the side.

"Hey, what is it?" I asked.

Zoe looked at me. "Nothing, I just _really_ hate that pole."

I laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Team." Frank said. We all turned to him and he smiled. "It's nice to have a full team again. Welcome back, Zoe."

"Why did KORPS need Zoe to put Mastermind into? I mean, why didn't they just use some random off the street?" Aneisha asked.

Zoe looked down and I reached out and grabbed her hand. She explained about why she had been specifically needed for the whole process. By the end, Zoe was close to crying. I hugged her tightly and let her cry into my shirt while Tom pulled out the bracelet that we had used to pull Mastermind out of Zoe's body.

"Hang on." Tom said.

"What?" I asked, my hand on the small of Zoe's back.

"The holding space. It's not orange anymore." Tom explained.

"Of course it's not." Zoe said, turning her head so she could see the others. "Crime Minister may be a bit insane, but she's not stupid. She knew that you would all try and take Mastermind out of me. So she had Steinberg work it so if anyone ever tried to take Mastermind out, his consciousness would go back into the computer instead of whatever storage device they intended it to go in."

I sighed. "So you're still in danger."

"No, she's not." Tom said.

"What do you mean?" Frank asked.

Tom held up the bracelet. "I made the bracelet with a feature which slightly altered Zoe's DNA once we pulled Mastermind out of her, that made sure he could never be put back in. If anyone ever tries, Zoe's body will reject it."

"What do you mean by reject it?" Aneisha asked.

"Exactly that. Mastermind can't be put back in, with the only side effect being that she'll throw up anything she eats for twenty-four hours afterwards. I figured everyone would rather a non-eating Zoe for twenty-four hours over going through this whole ordeal again." Tom explained.

I looked down at Zoe, who looked up at me with tear and hope filled eyes. Then she looked at Tom.

"Thank you."

Tom shrugged. "I've never had friends before. I figure I should protect the ones I've got."

Zoe smiled and then looked from Tom, to Frank, to Aneisha and then back up at me. "But what's to stop them from doing this again? Are we ever going to stop them?"

I looked down at her, brushing hair out of her eyes. "One day, Zo. One day, we'll get them."


End file.
